Israeli Security Forces - IDF - Sayeret Matkal
Sayeret
Matkal (Hebrew: סיירת מטכ"ל - General Staff Reconnaissance unit) is the
elite special forces unit of the Israeli Defence Force, established in
1957. Its main roles are counter terror, deep reconnaissance and
intelligence gathering. The unit is modelled on the British SAS, and
organizationally reports to the IDF's Intelligence Branch (Aman). Its
nickname in the IDF is simply "The Unit".
It is best known for Operation Thunderbolt, mistakenly better known as
Operation Entebbe, in which they rescued more than 100 Air France
airline passengers hijacked to Uganda by PLO terrorists, losing the unit
commander (Yonathan Netanyahu) to enemy gunfire.
Notable (former) Sayeret Matkal figures
Despite being a top-secret and relatively small army unit, former
Sayeret Matkal veterans have a disproportionate influence on the army
and public service. This is partly due to the fact that rigorous
screening and training ensures that only the most capable and motivated
Israeli youths are accepted into the unit as fighters and commanders.
* Ehud Barak - unit commander, later Chief of the General Staff and
Israeli Prime Minister
* Benjamin Netanyahu - unit team leader, later Israeli Prime Minister
* Yonathan Netanyahu - unit commander, killed in Operation Entebbe.
Benjamin Netanyahu's older brother.
* Shaul Mofaz - unit deputy commander, later Chief of the General Staff
and Defense Minister
* Moshe Yaalon - unit commander, later Chief of the General Staff
* Danny Yatom - unit commander, later Major General, head of Mossad and
a Knesset member
* Avi Dichter - unit fighter, later head of SHABAK (Shin Bet)
* Several other unit veterans who later became army generals
* There is a wideheld misconception that Prime Minister and former army
general Ariel Sharon also served in Sayeret Matkal. This belief is
unfounded.
Known operations
Note: Until recently the Israeli army had an official policy of denying
existence of this unit. Operations were generally attributed to "elite
paratroopers". Sayeret Matkal operations are still kept secret to this
day. However, due to the unit's successes in daring operations, it soon
became a very publicly-known secret in Israeli society.
* 1968 - Operation Shock - Sabotage of power plant and Nile bridges in
Egypt (jointly with Israeli Air Force)
* 1968 - Operation Gift - Sabotage of 14 Arab airliners in Beirut
International Airport, Lebanon
* 1969 - Operations Orchard 22, Orchard 37 - Assaults on high voltage
wires and a control antenna in Egypt
* 1969 - Operation Butmus - Assault on fortified Green Island, Egypt
(jointly with Shayetet 13)
* 1969 - Operation Rooster 53 - Kidnapping an entire Egyptian radar
installation (jointly with Israeli Air Force)
* 1970 - Operation Rhodes - Assault on fortified Shaduan Island, Egypt
(jointly with Shayetet 13)
* 1972 - Operation Isotope - Foiling a Sabena aircraft hijacking in Tel
Aviv, Israel (hostages rescue)
* 1972 - Operation Crate 3 - Kidnapping 5 Syrian intelligence officers
* 1973 - Operation Spring of Youth - Killing Black September terrorist
leaders in Beirut, Lebanon
* 1973 - Recapture of Mount Hermon from Syrian commandos in the Yom
Kippur War (jointly with Golani Brigade)
* 1974 - Ma'alot massacre (school hostages rescue)
* 1975 - Savoy Operation (hotel hostages rescue)
* 1976 - Operation Entebbe - Foiling an Air France aircraft hijacking in
Entebbe, Uganda (hostages rescue)
* 1977 - Reputed foiling of a Lufthansa aircraft hijacking in Mogadishu,
Somalia (hostages rescue, jointly with German troops)
* 1978 - Coastal Road Massacre (bus hostages rescue)
* 1980 - Misgav Am (Kibbutz hostages rescue)
* 1984 - Kav 300 affair (bus hostages rescue, see Shin Bet)
* 1988 - Reputed Abu Jihad killing, in Tunis, Tunisia
* 1989 - Sheik Abdul-Karim Obeid kidnapping, Lebanon (see Ron Arad)
* 1994 - Mustafa Dirani kidnapping, Lebanon (see Ron Arad)
* 1994 - Nachshon Waxman (attempted hostage rescue)
From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayeret_Matkal
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